Thousands of hunters took to the woods in our area Monday for day one of rifle deer season.
The 12-day hunting period is the biggest draw for Pennsylvania hunters.
At Martinell's Deer Processing in Tannersville, hunter Tom Vance from Blakeslee said in his eight years of hunting, his 10-pointer buck is the biggest he has bagged.
"I have to say, this is a trophy for me, this ten (pointer). It really is. So we're going to have them take care of it here and mount it and everything," said Vance.
On day one of rifle deer season, most of the bucks brought in to Martinell's were on the large side. Hunters credit the antler point restrictions put in place by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in 2002. The restriction does not allow hunters to shoot bucks with fewer than three points on their antlers. The result, hunters are now getting larger, older bucks.
"If you look here, they're all nice deer and I have to say, the antler restriction has definitely worked," said Vance.
Despite the rain, the butchers at Martinell's expected to see about 70 deer by the end of the night.
"We're a full-service butcher shop. We make a bunch of specialty products, bologna, salami, Slim Jims, kielbasa, two kinds of jerky. This year we added hot dogs, so we'll be making hot dogs," said owner Dan Martinell.
At The Deer Place in Dunmore, butchers said they're seeing bigger bucks as well and also credit the antler restriction.
"It is working, they're actually getting bigger. The deer are getting bigger," said Bob D'Angelo, one of the butchers.
Hunter Pat McMullen of Scranton said his hunting party made out well, with him snagging an eight-pointer.
"We had just an absolutely great day. We got two buck earlier in the morning and another buck late in the afternoon," said McMullen.
The season runs two weeks. The last day of rifle deer season is Saturday, December 12.
The 12-day hunting period is the biggest draw for Pennsylvania hunters.
At Martinell's Deer Processing in Tannersville, hunter Tom Vance from Blakeslee said in his eight years of hunting, his 10-pointer buck is the biggest he has bagged.
"I have to say, this is a trophy for me, this ten (pointer). It really is. So we're going to have them take care of it here and mount it and everything," said Vance.
On day one of rifle deer season, most of the bucks brought in to Martinell's were on the large side. Hunters credit the antler point restrictions put in place by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in 2002. The restriction does not allow hunters to shoot bucks with fewer than three points on their antlers. The result, hunters are now getting larger, older bucks.
"If you look here, they're all nice deer and I have to say, the antler restriction has definitely worked," said Vance.
Despite the rain, the butchers at Martinell's expected to see about 70 deer by the end of the night.
"We're a full-service butcher shop. We make a bunch of specialty products, bologna, salami, Slim Jims, kielbasa, two kinds of jerky. This year we added hot dogs, so we'll be making hot dogs," said owner Dan Martinell.
At The Deer Place in Dunmore, butchers said they're seeing bigger bucks as well and also credit the antler restriction.
"It is working, they're actually getting bigger. The deer are getting bigger," said Bob D'Angelo, one of the butchers.
Hunter Pat McMullen of Scranton said his hunting party made out well, with him snagging an eight-pointer.
"We had just an absolutely great day. We got two buck earlier in the morning and another buck late in the afternoon," said McMullen.
The season runs two weeks. The last day of rifle deer season is Saturday, December 12.
